Nelson cole



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON COLE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TENT-PIN.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 240,662, dated April 26, 1881.

Application filed March 12, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NELSON COLE, of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tent- Pins; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in tent-pins; and it consists in a machine-made article of the character designated, provided with a turned head, notch, and point.

The object of my invention is to produce a tent-pin possessing certain peculiar features of construction, which adapt it to admirably fulfill the functions ascribed to itat a greatlyreduced cost.

With this object in View my invention consists in certain details of construction, which will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a tent-pin constructedin accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a View showing the manner of its practical operation.

A represents a tent-pin made of any suitable wood, and havingaconvexed curved head,

B, conical point 0, and a partly-convexed and partly-concaved notch, the convex and concave portions of said notch being designated by D and E, respectively.

Heretofore tent-pins have been fashioned to the required shape and form exclusively by hand. This slow process rendered. them not only expensive and of dissimilar shape, but also objectionable, in that their angular and often ragged edges injured and hastened the wear ing out of the tent-ropes.

To avoid this latter objection, to lessen the cost of production, and to obtain uniformity of shape, I make my improvedtent-pins in a turning-lathe, whereby I am enabled to produce them very rapidly, and hence lessen the cost of production, to insure uniformity of shape, and to give them a smooth curved surface at certain desired points. a

The front face of the head B of the pin is convexed and curved, thereby imparting a finished appearance to the pin. That portion of the notch represented by D is convexed and presents a smooth face, and does not injure or wear the tent-rope, while the portion of the notch represented by E is concaved, the two terminal points a and b of the concavity serving to prevent the rope from slipping.

The point C of the pin is, as before described, cone-shaped, the rear wall, 0, of said cone forming an obtuse angle with the rear face, F, of the pin. The advantage of this form of point will be apparent by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings, and lies in the manner of driving the pin into the earth without disturbing the tent. Let G represent the side of a tent. If, now, the tent-pin is placed in such position with reference thereto that the rear wall, 0, of the point thereof is parallel with the side of the tent, it is obvious that pin can be driven into the ground without striking the canvas.

I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described, but hold myself at liberty to' NELSON GOLE.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN GLASS, FRANK D. MAoBETH, 

